Heart-shaped messages of support left at Swedish mosque after arson attacks

Friday, January 02, 2015 - 01:06

Worshippers at a mosque in Sweden arrive for Friday prayers to discover scores of heart-shaped messages of support, in the wake of arson attacks over Christmas. Mana Rabiee reports.

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One by one, well wishers leave their mark on this mosque in Uppsala, Sweden's fourth-largest city.
Heart-shaped messages of support just before Friday Prayers ... at this Muslim house of worship that had been the target of a petrol bomb attack and graffiti urging Muslims to "go home".
(SOUNDBITE) (Swedish) WORSHIPPER ALADDIN ABU, SAYING:
"It made me happy, and it made my children happy when they came here and saw what was written on all the pieces of paper that were on the door."
The messages are part of a so-called "love-bombing" organized by locals in support of the local Muslim community... locals like the dean of the Uppsala Diocese.
(SOUNDBITE) (Swedish) DEAN OF UPPSALA DIOCESE ANNICA ANDERBRANDT, SAYING:
"They want to achieve division, and it is the exact opposite which is happening. That is what we have seen here. We are gathered, we are unified because we don't want it to be like that in our city, our society."
But this is also the third such attack on a Swedish mosque over the Christmas holiday.
And it comes in the wake of a strong showing in a general election by a political party that wants to reduce immigration to Sweden by 90 percent.

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